Modern human society includes a wide variety of environments in which humans must process large amounts of complex information, often under time-sensitive deadlines. Various mechanisms have been developed to collect, synthesize, and convey complex information to humans in a manner that facilitates communication and understanding. For example, color-coding and/or shading have long been an effective mechanism to convey information to improve understanding.
Additionally, certain technological advances have naturally developed shading techniques as an organic aspect of the technology. For example, x-ray images inherently include gradations of shade, which skilled technicians use to gather information relating to medical conditions, material composition, internal construction, and a wide variety of other purposes.
Advances in display technology have allowed for applications that can process x-ray images (and other analog images) as digital images. Such images are often processed as a monochromatic image. However, current display devices that can process these images with the appropriate clarity and precision are often cost-prohibitive. Similarly, common cost-effective display equipment cannot display the number of different monochrome shades necessary to support the proper resolution of the image.
Moreover, in applications requiring certain minimum resolution and other display capabilities, industry standards have arisen to help end-users determine whether a particular display meets the end-user's display requirements. For example, one such standard is the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard for handling, storing, printing, and transmitting information in medical imaging. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) created the DICOM standard in part to insure that diagnostic images appear the same, whether viewed via print, film, or electronic display.
But even with an industry standard to guide end-users in selecting appropriate display equipment, the industry standard only informs the end-user that a particular brand and/or model of display equipment is theoretically capable of displaying images that conform to the industry standard. Defects in manufacturing, problems in manufacturer's product testing, and wear-and-tear over time can all degrade performance to the extent that a particular display device no longer conforms to the desired industry standard.
Current systems and methods to determine whether a particular display device conforms to a given industry standard suffer from various drawbacks. For example, typical cost-effective measures are frequently insufficiently accurate to meet the needs of end-users seeking conformity to complex standards. Moreover, while measures do exist that meet the diagnostic needs of end-users seeking conformity to complex standards, such measures are typically cost-prohibitive and/or biased in favor of one or more manufacturers.